It showed that both CLEC3B mRNA level and protein level in HCC cells was positive related to E-cadherin (E-cad), ZO-1 and negatively related to N-cadherin (N-cad), that were similar to the results in IHC staining assays (Fig. 2e-g and Additional file 8: Figure S6A-S6C). This evidence concerns the gene CLEC3B and hepatocellular carcinoma.